Thanatology is the scientific study of death, the dying process, and bereavement. Death can be studied from many perspectives. Each perspective highlights a different dimension of the complexities surrounding death and dying. This interdisciplinary study of death relies on contributions from many academic fields of study (Figure 13.20).

The Philosophical Approach

Philosophy explores fundamental questions about knowledge, life, mortality, and the human condition. There is a focus on examining the meaning of our existence, the nature of human thought, the essence of the universe, and the connection between them. This approach challenges humans to examine their own beliefs and question the validity of those beliefs. A philosophy-based perspective provides insights into the holistic human experience of death and dying. We and we alone will confront death. Our beliefs and perceptions become our reality and our truth. These beliefs then shape the meaning of death and the subsequent actions and responses.

Philosophy provides insights into the value-based decisions surrounding death and dying. For instance, in medicine, there may not be enough doctors, enough medicine, or enough hospital beds. Healthcare professionals decide who gets priority emergency treatment. Do they decide to treat the patient who has the best chance of survival? Or do they decide to treat the patient who is most urgent, regardless of the long-term outcome?

Biological and Medical Approaches

Biology is the science of life and living organisms. The multiple disciplines and subfields that make up this field of study examine the structure, function, growth, and evolution of organisms. Biological sciences and their application to the human body form the foundation of the Western healthcare system. Healthcare provider education and training are grounded in a biological paradigm. Western approaches to science and scientific methodology are used to establish a diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment strategy.

A biological perspective provides insights into an array of issues related to the understanding of death and dying. US dominant culture relies on biology and medicine to define when death occurs. This basic, fundamental question may at first seem fairly evident. But upon closer examination, it is a complex issue that relies on biological indicators that lead to questions such as: Does death occur when the heart stops? When internal organs cease to function? When brain activity stops? The interpretation and meaning of these physiological indicators are used to establish death. This raises questions for the US healthcare system when providing services for those who hold belief systems that do not place the same emphasis on the biological approach as being the definitive determinant in defining death.

Biological and medical approaches focus on the physical life and death of the body, as we discussed earlier in the chapter.

Anthropological Approach

Anthropology examines social, cultural, and biological factors to gain a holistic understanding of humanity. Using empirical evidence to study human language, culture, and societies this perspective considers the past when exploring the distinctiveness of social groups. Rituals, practices, and beliefs concerning death and dying reflect the most important cultural values by which people live their lives. What a culture places emphasis on at the end of life indicates what is valued in life. An anthropological perspective can facilitate a comparative analysis of past and present as well as a contemporary cross-cultural examination of death practices. This broadened awareness facilitates the cross-cultural understanding of varied death practices underscores that there is no inherent right or wrong way to address the issues associated with death.

Psychological Approach

Psychology examines human behavior and mental processes and explores how consciousness, cognition, and social interaction impact human behavior. This discipline connects social science with the biological sciences by focusing on the physiological and neurological processes in relationship to mental functioning and human behavior. A psychological perspective provides a framework for studying a vast array of death topics, including the study of death fears, death anxiety, and the emotions associated with death and dying. There has also been significant work in this field advancing the understanding of the impact of cognitive development on the death experience. Scholars and practitioners more deeply explore issues associated with grief, mourning, and bereavement.

We see a psychological approach in action when we look at how Maise Smith, a psychologist who is Tlingit and Northern Tutchone from Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, describes the challenges of grieving for adults who grew up in residential schools and for their children. This story is in Cultural Differences – Indigenous.

Sociological Approach

By now, you know that sociology focuses on the behavior of people in groups at many different levels. Sociologists take this approach when they examine the social problem of death and dying.

At a macro level of analysis, sociology focuses on the role of social institutions in structuring the processes surrounding death and dying. For instance, governments regulate the ways in which a corpse and or human remains can legally be handled. They legislate the process by which the legal definition and medical criteria are used to determine when death has occurred. The discipline also explores the impact of social indicators such as class, race, and gender and how social location differentially affects the end of life experience, such as access to healthcare resources and social support.

At a micro level of analysis, a sociological approach can shed light on how belief systems and social factors affecting our day-to-day interactions create meaning around death and the dying process.

Thanatology has long recognized the necessity and the value of an interdisciplinary approach to the study of death and dying. Each of the above disciplines contributes a unique body of critical information and insights needed to develop a holistic understanding of death. Sociology, with its focus on the impact of social forces and social processes, plays a critical role in expanding that understanding of death and death-related experiences.

Licenses and Attributions for Studying Death and Dying

Open Content, Original

“Studying Death and Dying” by Patricia Antoine is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Figure 12.20. “Thanatology is Interdisciplinary” by Kimberly Puttman is licensed under CC BY 4.0.